A great read in the true tradition of tense and exciting thrillers.I've had the pleasure of meeting L.A. Larkin on a couple of occasions, as we're both Sydney-based crime authors, although our sub-genres are different. If you're a reader of my blog you'll recall us being on a panel of 5 crime writers at the Australian Youth Hotel late last year.I'd read Larkin's first thriller, The Genesis Flaw, and really enjoyed it. So I was looking forward to a new adventure, and she has certainly not disappointed with Devour. Like a truly great thriller, it was hard to turn the light out at night - I just wanted to know what happened next. Having to get up for work is such a drag, when you've got a book you are totally absorbed in.I also love to see a realistically tough female protagonist - not all authors succeed when they try it. However, Larkin's Olivia Wolfe, an investigative journalist, hits the mark - and she hits a few other things, too! The story is well-researched and touches on some of the disturbing aspects of the modern world, making it even more readable. Well done, Louisa!Highly recommended - 5 Stars *****ABP

The 3 workshops at Granville Boys High School were a pleasure for me, and I hope useful and enjoyable for the lads - all doing extension studies English and wanting to learn about crime writing to assist with their coursework.​We had some great chats about genre, story, themes, setting, and characters - heavily biased towards the hard-boiled and noir side of things, I'm happy to admit. The lads were quite clear by the time we parted company that I'm not into cozies!I shared some judiciously chosen excerpts from Harry's World with them: certain scenes definitely being only for adult audiences. Didn't need any parents complaining when their sons came home and waxed lyrical about when Harry gets busy with the ladies! And I prepared some pages of great quotes from crime writers I love, giving them samples of some of the finest writing in the hard-boiled genre - a miniature showcase of how beautifully and strikingly the English language can be used.​It was great to see young minds getting into the mode of story construction and to see the ideas they had, and to hear some of their work in response to the writing exercises I did with them. And I think they enjoyed having an ex-cop turned crime author to chat with - being teenage lads there were quite a few questions about guns!Anyway, fellas, all the best with your writing exploits.And many thanks to WestWords (Michelle Rickerby and Michael Campbell) for inviting me to participate - I hope to do it again.You can see the great stuff they do with the kids in Western Sydney at their website: www.westwords.com.auCheers,ABP

If, like me, you're a massive fan of the Private Eye genre of crime fiction, you MUST visit Kevin Burton Smith's truly awesome website. It is by far the most comprehensive collection I've ever encountered of everything to do with PIs and their like. As Kevin himself describes it - "Everything you ever wanted to know about Private Eyes and other tough guys...and gals".The site is based primarily around the actual characters, and there are literally hundreds of them.And he doesn't just cover novels and short stories, but also film, TV, radio, comics, and more.You could literally spend weeks just reading his website, and I've certainly discovered lots more great reading from it.In my humble opinion, you're not a PI fan until you've been to The Thrilling Detective Website.Keep up the fantastic work, Kevin!

It was a beautiful autumn day for a drive down to the fabulous Southern Highlands - all the deciduous trees displaying their colourful finery. Absolutely stunning.And for my morning author talk hosted by The Friends of the Library in Bowral, it was a packed house with a wonderful audience from Bowral and surrounds. My many thanks to Robyn Karakasch and the Friends of the Library Committee for their invitation and hosting me today.As always, there was no shortage of discussion around Harry's World, crime and corruption, and lots of other things flowing from those. We could indeed have gone on for longer, but a lovely morning tea awaited, with book signings and some further individual discussions.And given the number of references I seem to be making in conversation these days to the sequel (Harry's Quest), I'd better pull my finger out and get on with finishing it!!! I'm about half way there, for all you fans of PI Harry Kenmare and his friends.Cheers,ABP